JFK Archive Gives Bolivian President New Fuel for Border Dispute with Chile

The alleged “offer” was made in December 1975 during Chile’s Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, and includes an offer of a 6.2-mile passage to the ocean. (Flickr)

EspañolBolivian President Evo Morales said this weekend that Chile made a “secret offer” to grant the country access to the ocean in exchange for an alliance against Peru. Morales made the statements this Sunday, October 29 when documents concerning the assassination of John F. Kennedy were released by Unites States President Donald Trump. The documents allegedly contain evidence of the proposed alliance.

The alleged “offer” was made in December 1975 during Chile’s Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, and includes an offer of a 6.2-mile passage to the ocean.

The documents allegedly prove Chile still has business to settle with Bolivia, Morales claimed, and that it is “their obligation to see to the complaints” made before the International Courts in The Hague.

Bolivia’s accusations are nothing new, however. Former President Carlos Mesa also referenced the documents that show Chile’s agreement.

According to Mesa, Chilean Foreign Minister Patricio Carbajal said: “Chile received the formal proposal from Bolivia that established a passage from the Bolivian border, until the Concordia border between Peru and Chile.”

Likewise, Mesa said that the Foreign Minister had taken the proposal into consideration, accepting it as a basis for negotiating the possibility of granting Bolivia sovereign access to the ocean.

Chile, on the other hand, claimed that a treaty signed in 1904 resolved all pending border issues between the two countries. Chile claimed the Silala River, and is currently disputing its ownership with Bolivia. The river originates in the Bolivian Department of Potosí, and flows into the Chilean region of Antofagasta.

The International Court of Justice of The Hague is waiting on the oral arguments of both countries that will take place during the first semester of 2018. A ruling is expected during the second half of the year.

Regarding the files declassified last week by Trump, President Evo Morales said that they make clear that the Central Intelligence Agency CIA admitted that Operation Condor was seeking to “eradicate leftist leaders in the southern hemisphere.”

Operation Condor was a coordinated system for repression organized by southern dictators (from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brasil, Paraguay and Bolivia) in the 1970s and 1980s, conceived and led by Augusto Pinochet.